


Eyes like Ice

by ThoughtfulObserver



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Hunter!Gabriel, Multi, Werewolf!AU, Werewolf!Jack, mentions of torture, rather graphic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-09
Updated: 2016-08-19
Packaged: 2018-08-07 17:24:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7723270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThoughtfulObserver/pseuds/ThoughtfulObserver
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They have been human once.<br/>He liked to believe that reminding himself of that fact every time he claimed one of their lives, that he himself wasn't turning into a monster - into a cold blooded killing machine.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The crimson red stood in a stark contrast to the white snow that covered his surroundings and even with the snow still falling silently, the wake of blood the beast had left for him was far from being covered up. It didn't surprise him. He had landed two shotgun blasts square to the werewolf's chest, though he had to admit that the white beast was nothing like anything he had ever seen before.

It had terrorized the citizens of countless villages and small towns for almost three years now, obliterating whole tracts of land. Gabriel had been hunting it down since months, following the path of blood and death that followed the beast, yet the creature had always been a little too fast, the hunter a little too late and every new village he arrived to had already been reduced to nothing.

 

That was until last night.

The sun had already set when Gabriel had heard the bloodcurdling screams. He knew that he wasn't far from the next settlement and immediately started running. The hunter hadn't even reached the town's gate, when one of the werewolfs had attacked him. A shot to the face had stopped it pretty quickly.

Usually werewolfs attacked alone, unlike real wolfs they didn't form packs as they often would rather tear each other apart than actually work together. Not that Gabriel minded, or any other hunter for the matter. The beasts were strong and fast, but alone they were _manageable_. They would mostly stick to the woods, ambushing travelers or taking a cow or sheep every now and than. This group however was different. From what he had found out during his hunt Gabriel knew that they still weren't actually working as a pack, instead these “lesser” werewolf's simply followed the trail of the white beast, feasting on whatever it left in it's wake.

When Gabriel finally reached the small town he almost feared that he had been too late once again. Multiple buildings were set ablaze, people screaming and running around, trying to find shelter in the few cellars of their neighbors. Some of the lesser werewolf's were already roaming around, howling and killing whatever was closest to them. He heard commands being shouted and quickly made his way to the town's square, where he for the very first time laid his eyes upon the beast he had been hunting for so long.

Gabriel hadn't been as naive as to discard the stories he had heard about the white werewolf as simple exaggerations, yet he still found himself dumbfounded at the sight of the creature. It was standing on it's hind legs and even though it was hunched over it was probably double his own size – double the size of a normal werewolf. The white fur all but glistened in the moonlight, making it look almost ethereal, unreal, yet it's complete head and arms were covered in blood.

As Gabriel continued to stare, the monster grabbed one of the guards, sharp claws easily piercing through leather and flesh. The scream it produced from the guard only lasted so long, the giant werewolf simply biting off his whole _head_ , ripping it off only to crush it between it's jaws. There was a wet sound as the remains hit the ground, the beast spitting it out like dirt – too bony probably. Everything had happened so fast, the body in it's claws was still spasming weakly.

The beast slammed the dead body into another guard before sinking it's claws deep into the chest of a third, this time however it lifted the hysterically screaming guard over it's head, ripping him open as if he was a sack of flour, a cascade of blood and organs clashing down on it's face, showering it in crimson red. The creature immediately sunk it's fangs into the exposed flesh, ripping out chunks, swallowing them whole.

Before it could finish and move on to it's next victim Gabriel drew his weapons, shooting at the werewolf. He was still too far away to cause any real damage to the beast, but the sound of his shotguns was enough to draw the attention to him. The white werewolf snapped it's head to face the hunter.

A shiver ran down his spine as he locked eyes with the beast. Gabriel was sure he had never seen a colder shade of blue in his whole life.

The creature growled lowly, a sound straight from hell, then it lunged forward, it's muscular legs strong enough to close the distance between them in a single jump.

Gabriel had to jump out of it's way, though the long claws of the beast managed to snatch one of his legs making him tumble to the ground. He instinctively rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the creatures fangs. The hunter quickly tried to land a shot, but the werewolf wasn't dumb and it wasn't slow either. Before he even realized what had happened the beast had already jumped to his other side, lashing out to sink it's claws into the hunter's chest. Gabriel felt the force of the impact, letting out a pained groan, though the metal plate that was hiding underneath his clothes was sturdy enough to safe his life - he knew that he probably shouldn't push his luck much more.

Lashing out he smashed one of his guns against the werewolf's temple, startling it for a second enough time for him to try and shoot it with his other gun, but again the creature was faster. It shifted away, evading the bullet, trying to slash at his chest once more.

It lunged out and Gabriel realized that it aimed for his neck this time, but before it could slit his throat an arrow swished through the air, almost hitting the werewolf. The beast turned it's attention to one of the last remaining guards, already preparing to jump at him, but Gabriel put his arms around the waist of the beast, tackling it to the ground with as much force as he could muster up. He felt the hellish creature wriggle beneath him, trying to scratch and bite him, claws scratching across the hunter's face, making him grunt and let go. The werewolf scrambled to it's feet, turning to face Gabriel, who still laid on the ground, trying to wipe away the blood that was threatening to get into his eyes. He almost didn't see it coming, but just as the beast was about to attack him again Gabriel pulled the triggers.

He had to admit that he had been lucky, incredibly so - landing two shots to the monster's chest from such short distance. It produced a terrible screech, but instead of collapsing right then and there the werewolf flung one of his arms around his chest in an attempt to keep itself together and after what felt like an eternity of screeching and growling and howling in pain it actually retreated, mustering up enough strength to run away, even climbing over the town's wall just to put as much distance between itself and the hunter as possible.

Gabriel watched it go until it vanished into the darkness, then he let his head fall against the ground again. Taking some deep, ragged breaths he slowly moved his hands to assess the damage he had taken. His clothes were a mess, the beast had scratched him up pretty badly and he was sure that he already felt bruises forming all across his chest and abdomen and then there was his face – luckily he hadn't lost an eye – _luckily he hadn't lost his head._

 

He had then helped the guards to fend off the other werewolfs, killing most of them and as they prepared to burn their bodies some of the townsfolk approached him, thanking him,asking him to stay and rest up. Gabriel refused. His job wasn't done yet.

His thought's returned to the present when he heard a soft growl not far from him. The hunter immediately stopped, listening carefully. He had followed the werewolf deep into the woods, hours had already passed since their initial fight and the sun that was reflected by the snow made everything way too bright. His eyes followed the trail of blood, leading to a small downward slope. Gabriel approached it carefully, though he knew that the snow crunching beneath his boots gave him away. Taking a look over the edge of the slope he saw that the trail of blood ended there. He concluded that the beast was hiding under a small ledge, probably right beneath his feet and made his way to circle around it.

He found the beast as he had assumed, lying on the ground, the blood that still seeped out of it's wounds had pooled around it, melting the snow. Now Gabriel could clearly hear the grunts it made, the ragged breath accompanied by an occasional whimper. The werewolf was fighting, he realized, tightening the grip on his guns as he slowly approached the wounded creature.

Then suddenly it's eyes snapped open, again locking with the hunter's - a growl and before Gabriel could do anything it already tackled him to the ground. He quickly pressed the muzzle of his shotgun into the werewolf's abdomen, pulling the trigger as fast as he could.

There was a sickening wet sound, a deep growl and Gabriel already closed his eyes, waiting for the beast to sever his head, but instead it's legs gave up under it's weight and it collapsed right onto the hunter.

He took a deep breath to calm his nerves, feeling the werewolf's warm blood soaking into his clothes. They stayed like this for a moment before Gabriel moved to shove the beast off of him, taking a look at the creature as he rolled it onto it's back.

It was – Gabriel could barely believe it – still alive. He carefully touched it's broad shoulder, pinching it, giving it a light shake, but when all he got was a pained gasp he was convinced that the creature would _not_ attack him again. A little more confident now, he moved his hands to the creature's chest, gently pushing back the shredded skin and flesh to check the wounds. The damage his shotguns had done was massive, the beast's sternum and most of it's rips were shattered and some of the holes the shrapnels had torn into it were deep enough to let Gabriel take a look on something _pulsating_. Maybe it's heart, or a bigger artery – with all the blood it was hard to tell.

Gabriel decided not to look at the other wounds.

He sighed, rubbing his forehead with the back of his forearm. Normally he would have finished the beast of right away, but he had been given specific orders; to catch it alive if the possibility arouse. It _was_ alive, but he had no clue how long it had left. Maybe it would die before the other's would reach him, putting it through an unnecessary amount of pain. Which Gabriel usually tried to avoid, even if that thing next to him had slaughtered hundreds of innocent people, because at some point _that thing had been human too_.

It was something Gabriel reminded himself of every time he killed one of them.

_They have been human once._

He liked to believe that reminding himself of that fact every time he claimed one of their lives, that he himself wasn't turning into a monster - into a cold blooded killing machine.

Gabriel sighed again, watching the dying werewolf's struggle to breath, trying to imagine what he might have looked like, what kind of life he had been living before he had been turned.

Maybe he had been a farmer in some secluded village. A son, a brother, maybe a husband or a lover to someone, maybe even a father. When the werewolfs had attacked he had fought to protect those he loved, eventually getting bitten. The werewolfs rarely left any survivors, he had probably been on the verge of death when they had found him. Of course they should have killed him. It was law, but he had been a good man and no one could bring themselves to do it, or maybe his family had hid him, pretended that maybe they could help him, that their love was enough to keep him from becoming one of _them_. Maybe he begged them to kill him, in the rare moments he was awake and his mind clear. Maybe he would have did it himself, if he only had the strength to get up. Eventually he _did_ turn and his family was _first_ , then the rest of his village.

Gabriel would never know.

He pulled out a little pistol, aiming at the sky and pulled the trigger. A red light shot up, exploding into a bright flash, then he pulled off his coat, carefully covering the werewolf's wounds with it.

Gabriel moved to sit next to the creature's head, very carefully placing his hand on top of it's head. There was a weak growl, but the hunter knew that he did not need to fear the beast at this point and instead petted it's head until the growling stopped. Maybe it had realized that Gabriel wasn't going to hurt it any more, but it was more likely that the werewolf was simply too tired to keep growling at him. The hunter carefully traced a cross on the beast's forehead, whispering a prayer his abuela had taught him long ago.

He couldn't do much, but he could at least try and comfort what has once been a man.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> megsblackfire, Polaris, voland444, a cool guy and NepetaWrites  
> wanted to know how the story goes on, so here it is.
> 
> \- TO

They had moved out as soon as they had seen the signal, yet it still took them about two hours to reach them. Ana was the one driving the cart, Angela sitting beside her while Reinhardt was walking next to them. Of course they would have been faster without him – there was no way the cart could have supported his weight – but they had decided that it was much more safer this way. Plus the ramblings of the old knight kept Angela's anxiety at bay.

He was just telling them about that one time when he had slayed a dragon in his youth, when Mercy finally spotted the dark silhouette of the Overwatch agent that had fired the flare gun. The man was casually sitting in the blood soaked snow and then she saw it – the giant, white werewolf lying next to him, covered by what seemed to be a coat.

The horse faltered, flaring it's nostrils nervously and after a few failed attempts of Ana to get it moving again the black haired woman sighed.

“I will wait here.” She declared, making Angela nod. The doctor picked up her bag and glanced at Reinhardt. “Well, then - let's go and see what this is all about.” The old, heavily armored man nodded and helped her down onto the ground, before following her to the hunter and the beast.

The grin that was already tugging at his lips only grew wider when he finally could get a proper look at the slain monster.

“Ahh! What a _glorious_ beast!” He beamed, patting the hunter's shoulder to congratulate him. “It's head would fit into my collection just _perfectly_! Or maybe we could make a rug out of it's skin.”

Gabriel just shot him an annoyed look, before glancing over to Angela, who carefully nudged the werewolf with the tip of her boot.

“I see you've been successful.” She stated calmly, not even looking at him as she was focused completely on the beast in front of her.

“Took me long enough.” He grunted. “Put up quite a fight as well.”

The doctor gave him a font smile at that. “I will look at your wounds in a moment, just let me..” She slowly kneeled down, attempting to lift the coat off the werewolf, but as soon as she touched the fabric, the beast stirred, letting out a low growl – intimidating enough for her to quickly draw away her hand, giving Gabriel a rather scared look.

The hunter grinned and patted the beast's head. “Shh, _cariño._ ” He cooed softly and for a moment Angela wondered whether he was mocking _her_ or the werewolf. “He won't do anything.”

Angela grimaced. “Seems like you've already became best friends.” She scoffed with a click of her tongue, before trying to remove the coat once more – again, the werewolf started growling, but it did not move and now that Angela could see the wounds she understood why.

“What a _mess_ , Gabriel.” She scolded, carefully pushing away skin and flesh to get a better look at the damage done.

“Werewolfs _never_ know when to stop.” The hunter explained with a shrug, but then he lowered his voice, getting serious and almost wistful. “Just let me finally put this thing out of it's misery.”

There was a pause as Angela continued to assess the wounds, Gabriel refusing to look at her and Reinhardt just awkwardly standing behind them until the doctor finally raised her voice again.

“ _No._ ” She said, her voice firm. “He'll be fine, his enhanced healing has already kicked in.” Gabriel frowned, though he didn't say anything else, while Angela already moved to search around in her bag, pulling out a syringe and two vials, then she stroke away the fur on the werewolf's neck, giving him two shots. The werewolf let out a small yelp, Gabriel watching silently as he gave him a last pat on the head.

“Alright Reinhardt, get him on the cart.”

The old knight did as he was told, carefully picking up the werewolf. Compared to him the beast almost looked like a lap-dog. Gabriel grinned at the thought, then he himself got up, following Reinhardt to the cart.

As soon as they approached the horse, it started neighing, fidgeting around nervously and Ana had to do her best only to keep it from running away in panic. She greeted Gabriel with an annoyed huff.

“Good to see you again, _Gabi_.” Ana stated with a grin, making the hunter roll his eyes.

“Only Fareeha is allowed to call me _that_.” He groaned.

“Well, she will be _happy_ to do so.” Ana chimed and the familiarity of it all actually made him smile. He hadn't seen Fareeha in _ages_ and suddenly he realized just how relieved he was to finally be done with his job. He could finally rest up, meeting both new and old hunters of Overwatch while taking a little break from following a wild beast through mud, snow and blood. “Think she'll even remember me?” Gabriel asked, still smiling gently.

 

Apparently she did – if the hugs and the screeching and the jumping around in joy were any indications to go by. She wasn't the only one that greeted him though. On the contrary: It seemed as if everyone, who was currently staying at castle Lionhardt came to Gabriel at some point. He had to admit that it was.. nice. He actually had feared that after such a long time in solitude he wouldn't be able to connect to the other's again, but strangely enough he already felt like he was at home again.

They gathered in the giant dining room of the castle, where Gabriel got to eat the best venison in his life all the while chatting with all of his old friends and fellow hunters, telling each other stories about their hunts or legends they had picked up while on a mission.

It had gotten dark fairly quickly and because Fareeha insisted that she wanted Gabriel – and only Gabriel – to tug her in, he left the feast early and after two and a half bedtime stories were told he found himself wandering alone through a more secluded part of the castle. Gabriel actually only had been at this base for a couple of times as it was a rather new one. Reinhardt Wilhelm von Lionhardt had gladly offered Overwatch to set up base in the castle of his ancestors after he himself had joined them. He was – as far as Gabriel could tell, quite eccentric, but he had his heart in the right place.

His peaceful thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the faint sound of .. - he couldn't put his finger on it; it was a terrible kind of howling that sounded almost like human screaming, as if someone or some _thing_ was being burned alive. The hunter's mind raced, trying to find a logical explanation for the sound, but when the anguished cries wouldn't stop he quickly made his way to find the source of it.

It didn't took him too long to find a door - down to the basement, the horrific noises clearly coming from beyond it. Without hesitation he pushed the door open and descended the flight of stairs that were lit by a few torches hanging on the walls. He wasn't sure what he had expected to find, but when he saw Angela sitting in a small room that reminded him of a library, he was rather dumbfounded. The noises were much louder down here and Gabriel quickly spotted a door that probably led to whatever made these sounds. For the moment however, his attention focused on Angela, who was sitting in a wooden chair, reading a book as if she couldn't hear a thing.

“Angela? What- what is this _sound_?” Gabriel demanded to know. He felt incredibly restless. Those noises, _those screams._ He had to suppress the urge to just storm into the next room right away.

To his astonishment Angela flinched at his voice as if she hadn't heard him running down the stairs, she looked around a little disoriented until she spotted Gabriel next to her, giving him a small smile before pulling out two small, white plugs out of her ears.

“Is there anything I can help you with?” She asked nicely as if nothing was wrong.

“ _The noises..!_ ” Gabriel exclaimed, his hands frantically running through his short hair. “ _What is this..?_ ”

He could see how Angela immediately realized what he meant, though she just gave him a rather sheepish smile. “I'm sorry. That's just Jack. I didn't think you would be able to hear him from-..”

“Who _the hell_ is _Jack_?” The hunter groaned.

“Oh, it's the werewolf you caught today – I just call him Jack, but-..”

“ _What the hell are you doing with him?_ ” Gabriel interrupted her again.

“ _My_ , I'm testing antidotes.” Angela said as if that would explain anything, though this time she seemed more annoyed. “I needed a living werewolf to test my cure for lycanthropy on. The one I'm trying out right now .. doesn't seem to work.”

Gabriel let out a shuddering breath. These noises. They got under his skin.

“Alright, okay..” He said breathing out. “Shouldn't you keep an eye on him, then?”

“Amélie is doing that for me right now.”

_Amélie._

Gabriel rushed into the next room without another word.

 

He _hated_ Amélie Lacroix. Some said that it was because they were considered the best hunters of Overwatch, that Gabriel was just jealous whenever someone said she was the number one instead of him, but that was _bullshit_. Lacroix was a monster, that was it. In the beginning of Overwatch she used to work with her husband Gérard, but then things got _ugly_. Gérard died and Amélie.. she never was the same again. Gabriel had been teamed up with her a couple of times after that. She still was one of the best hunters, quiet and deadly, but she took pleasure, not only in killing, but in torturing her prey. It was disgusting, how she enjoyed their screams, how she acted like a child that ripped out a flies legs and wings before leaving it to die. Gabriel had to interfere multiple times, releasing her victims with a bullet through the skull and a hasty prayer and the _screams_ – the screams he heard _right now_ ; they reminded him of it all over again.

He rushed into the room, almost busting the door only to find himself in what seemed to be an old torture chamber. There were cages and all sorts of _devices_ and a shelf with countless of colorful vials and in the middle of it all stood a long wooden table, the white werewolf strapped onto it with multiple thick leader belts, trashing about and howling in pure agony.

Gabriel had seen a lot, but _never_ had he heard _anything_ like that before. He could almost _feel_ the immense pain the creature must have been in.

The hunter ignored Amélie, who was sitting next to the werewolf, a blissful smile on her face as she listened to the screams as if they were music and instead turned to search the shelf for a tranquilizer.

Recognizing a name on one of the labels, he quickly filled a syringe with the contend, rushing to the werewolf's head. Just when he was about to sink the needle into it's neck, Amélie's hand grabbed his wrist tightly.

“What are you doing there?” She hissed, her voice cold, her heavy accent both alluring and intimidating.

“Are you fucking _deaf_ Lacroix?” Gabriel snapped back, shaking off her hand and injecting the tranquilizer.

“We are not allowed to interfere with Ziegler's experiments.” She growled, narrowing her eyes as she got up, slowly making her way to the door. Angela was probably going to lecture him about this afterwards, but he couldn't care less about that. All that mattered was that the hellish screaming _finally_ tuned down.

Looking down at his hands the hunter realized that they were shaking and so he took a few deep breaths to calm himself, the werewolf letting out a pained whimper.

It had drooled all over, saliva foaming out of it's maw as it tried to catch it's breath. Gabriel watched for a moment, before he reached out, stroking the beast's head.

“Shh, it's okay, it's over.” He mumbled, not sure whether he was trying to sooth the werewolf or himself. “It's over, _Jack_.”

 


	3. Chapter 3

Angela had been a little bit “upset”.

After Amélie had informed her of what Gabriel had done she had told him calmly but _firmly_ that she was _not_ happy about it. When he had tried to argue with her she continued with telling him that 'No, she didn't like it either' but she had to 'try every possibility. Even if that meant injecting “Jack” with a serum that contained microscopic particles of _silver_.' - Silver, that harmed a werewolf if he as much as touched it, injected into his _veins_. No wonder he had been screeching as if he had been burned alive – because he _was_ – _from the inside_. And no, Gabriel wasn't against finding a cure for lycanthropy. On the contrary. But if that meant doing something like _that_ , making someone produce noises like _those_.. then he wasn't having any of it.

The end did _not_ justify the means.

But apparently he was the only one who thought so. He had talked to Ana, who was in charge of the Lionhardt base, even if the castle itself kind of still belonged to Reinhardt and she had argued in almost the same way as Angela. She did not want to interfere with the doctor's experiments and she did not have much knowledge about medicine herself, so she simply said that 'Angela knows what she does, just leave it to her.'.

Since Ana wasn't much of a help he asked the other hunters about their opinions, but again most of them were perfectly fine with what was going on in the castle's basement. Even though they felt pity for the damned creature, they believed that sacrificing one to safe all the others was worth the chance. It was _logical_ , they said.

But Gabriel was stubborn and even though their arguments made him falter, he kept to his opinion, challenging them to go down and see for themselves.

And it _did_ work – or at least that was what Gabriel liked to believe. He had seen the terror in their eyes as they had watched Angela injecting whatever concoction she had come up with during her research into the beast and rarely anyone would stay for more than a few minutes, but as soon as they had left the basement they seemed to push away all thoughts about what they had witnessed and stuck to their views.

It was more than frustrating.

 

He hadn't even been able to convince Jesse.

“I read ya, pardner – but ya've gotta think 'bout all the people we'll be able to help, when she finds the cure.” He had said in his _stupid_ accent, a cigar between his lips. “Also.. ya know..” Jesse hesitated and rubbed the back of his head with one of his hands. “Look at it like uh.. a penalty of sorts? That thing killed lots of innocent people, Gabe – _you_ oughta know that.”

Gabriel had stopped in his tracks at that, thinking about the words for a while, before he turned to look at his friend. “We are _hunters_ , Jesse. Not _judges_.” He told him with a pained smile, disappointed, then he continued his way to that little room down in the basement.

Jesse didn't follow him.

 

It had been almost three weeks since this whole mess had begun and while Gabriel had tried to keep his distance to Angela's lab, he couldn't just pr etend not to know what was happening like all the others seemed to do and so, after a few days he had become somewhat of a regular guest at the basement cell and in no time he found himself spending most of his nights down there with Angela, Amélie and “Jack”.

He had to admit that it still felt kind of odd to call him a name, but it was something that made the beast seem more _human_ in a way and though Gabriel would never admit it he was rather interested in what kind of man _actually_ hid inside the beast.

 

Usually when he would arrive, Angela would be sitting in her little office, thinking about new recipes for a cure, but this time she wasn't which could only mean that she had made some kind of breakthrough or that she would soon need a new specimen. It was then that he noted how eerily quiet it was. A little bit more unnerved than he would admit, Gabriel made his way to the lab, hoping for the best.

This time there was only Angela around, because Amélie had been send on a mission and she was watching the werewolf closely, though she looked up, when Gabriel entered the room and smiled softly.

“Is.. everything alright?” Gabriel asked, trying to sound as casual as possible, himself taking a look at the bound beast.

“Jack” was panting harshly, his chest heaving as he tried to fill his lungs with air while the rest of his body twitched and trembled uncontrollably. It wasn't a nice sight, but it was an improvement of some sorts.

“I think something is happening.” Angela whispered as if saying the words out loud would ruin all the progress she had made and her eyes gleamed with excitement and determination. It made a shiver run down his spine.

Gabriel carefully approached the table the werewolf was tied to, watching as the beast began arching it's back, letting out a pained whine as it tried to move against it's shackles only to slump down in defeat a moment later. Soon, the panting got even worse, every breath seeming to swell and deflate his chest way too much, almost as if the beast was growing, expanding in size only to fall in on itself all over again. It shuddered, fur pressing against it's skin, then standing on end again.

Both Gabriel and Angela flinched back, when the werewolf suddenly released an earsplitting howl, so loud and shrill that they had to cover their ears with their hands, yet Gabriel could clearly hear a sound way too similar to breaking bones as the creature trashed around in a frenzy. He already wanted to call out to Angela, convinced that the werewolf would kill himself in his fit, when he started to see the beast's form changing. It wasn't a seamless change though, more like a back and forth as if the body was trapped between bestiary and humanity, but in the end the howling turned into a human scream that faded into raspy gasps and when Gabriel dared to start breathing again he couldn't believe that there was now a man lying on the rough wooden table.

The metal that once held the beast was too loose to hold the now rather slim figure and for a moment the hunter feared that he would take advantage of that, attacking as soon as possible, but the man kept gasping for air, letting out pained moans and whimpers as he slowly rolled to his side, curling up on himself like a scared child.

Gabriel glanced to Angela, who looked shocked, unable to move or say a thing, just staring at what she probably would call her greatest success so far. The hunter grimaced at the thought and approached the man on the table, only to be stopped by the doctor.

“No, wait..! He might attack you!”

Gabriel didn't even bother to roll his eyes. “He doesn't seem that threatening to me.” He scoffed, approaching the table until he stood in front of the man, crouching down a bit so they were on eye level with each other. The other was probably around Gabriel's age, maybe a bit younger, but even though his features looked perfectly human, his hair had remained white. He was still panting slightly, eyes closed, but what concerned Gabriel was his skin: It looked reddened and almost raw, making him wonder whether he could touch the other without hurting him.

“Hey.. can you hear me?” He asked quietly, trying to catch the other's attention, but he didn't react. Gabriel watched him closely, he looked rather peaceful, almost as if asleep, though his brows were furrowed ever so slightly as if he was trapped in an unpleasant dream.

“Hey..” He tried again and when he reached out to put his hand on the other's shoulder he heard Angela letting out a yelp. She was probably afraid that the touch would trigger something in the white haired werewolf, that he would jerk up, biting off one of the hunter's ears, but nothing like that happened. Instead crystal blue eyes fluttered open and as they met the hunter's, Gabriel felt a shiver run down his spine yet again.

_They aren't human._ He thought, staring into the seemingly endless blue until the man closed his eyes again. Gabriel gave the shoulder he held a light nudge in an attempt to wake him up again, but it was to no avail. Noticing that the other's breaths got weaker he carefully put his hand on the man's neck, feeling his sluggish pulse.

“Something's wrong.” He exclaimed, pushing the man onto his back, before looking at Angela, who still seemed reluctant to approaching the turned werewolf.

“ _Angela._ ” Gabriel said with a stern voice and a fierce look in his eyes. “ _He needs help._ ”

She hesitated and Gabriel could almost see the cogwheels turning in her head, but then she took a deep breath to steady herself, taking a step forward, before she started to examine the barely conscious man.

She was just checking his pulse, when he opened his eyes again, probably catching but a glimpse of Angela, but it was enough to make him jump up in panic, almost falling off the table if Gabriel hadn't stood right next to him, quickly pulling his arms around the other, grabbing his wrists and holding him against his chest. Angela had flinched back and looked almost as scared as the werewolf.

“He's _dangerous_.” She gasped, making Gabriel's blood boil and if it wasn't for the man in his arms, that was still struggling against him, because he was having a _fucking panic attack_ , caused by only _looking_ at Angela he would have bawled her out right then and there.

“God damn, Angela; He's not dangerous, he's _scared_. Which is hardly surprising considering that you _tortured_ him for weeks on end!” He spat out. She flinched again, looking at him in shock and surprise and Gabriel could see that she was about to say something to defend herself, but he didn't want to hear it.

“Cut the crap already and _do_ something!”

She pressed her lips into a firm line before giving a small nod, hurrying over to her shelf to look for something.

Jack almost immediately relaxed, slumping down against Gabriel's chest bonelessly. His eyes darted around the room, whole body trembling and pretty much hyperventilating only straining his battered body more and more.

“Hey, look at me. Come on..” Gabriel urged as he carefully moved the man to cradle him against his chest. The werewolf's eyes snapped to him and the hunter couldn't help but offer him a small smile.

“It's alright, I've got you.” He muttered, placing a hand on top of the man's head to stroke his hair and slowly but surely he could feel how the other calmed down again.

“Shh.. todo saldrá bien..”

When Gabriel saw that Angela was approaching them again he moved his hand to cover Jack's eyes, who was either too tired to complain or trusting enough not to shake him off.

Angela quickly injected something into his arm and backed off again, though it was pretty clear that the werewolf was not posing a threat in any way.

By the time Gabriel removed his hand he was already on the verge of sleep. Angela handed him some clothes she had prepared a while ago and the hunter helped him into them before carefully picking him up, carrying him to the door.

“Gabriel what.. are you doing there?” Angela asked him, sounding genuinely confused, which made the hunter stop to look at her.

“Getting him up to the quarters so he can rest up.” He answered, slightly irritated.

“You – you _can't_..!” Angela suddenly exclaimed. “We have no clue whether the transformation is permanent! Or whether his mind changed back into that of a human or not..!”

The hunter frowned and looked down at the sleeping man in his arms. Angela was right, but that didn't mean that he liked where this was going.

“So what do _you_ suggest?” He asked through grit teeth.

“We.. we need to put him back into his cage..”

_Right._

Gabriel gave her a look, but nodded, then he walked over to the giant cage the werewolf had been kept in whenever he wasn't strapped to the examination table. There was a pile of hay on the ground where Gabriel lay him down carefully.

“Chain him.” He heard Angela call out from behind him.

Gabriel took a deep breath, then he reached out for a chain that was attached to one of the cage's bars, shackling Jack's left wrist. He got up and walked out of the cage with a low growl and when he was about to leave the room Angela had the nerve to ask him where he was going.

“Getting a blanket.”

“For you?”

“For _him_.”

 


End file.
